Reading tarot takes practice. It takes time to understand the meanings of the cards but more importantly, it takes patience to listen to your intuition for the underlying messages. People often ask me, “Does tarot really help you tell the future?” I read tarot like it is a snapshot of life and it also has the potential for mystical messages as well. I am the creator of White Sage Tarot, but it was more channeled than made by me.
Ten years ago, I got my husband pussy willows for Valentines’ Day. I decided to make a painting of them with my watercolors. They came with a crushed velvet ribbon so I painted that as well.
As I was painting, a little voice in my head said, “Hey, that looks like a wand in a tarot deck. You should paint a tarot deck!” A creative spark, which eventually became the Ace of Wands in my White Sage Tarot deck.
I spent several months learning the intricate details about each card as the images would sometimes appear out of thin air. Eventually, I took an online class that helped me learn the details about how to make an indie version of it. I had my White Sage Tarot deck in my pocket when I entered a local herb shop called Present Moment Herbs and Books. The tarot reader, Tammi, was there and I asked her to take a look at my deck. She suggested that we do a reading with her deck about mine. I agreed and sat down. She asked me how many of these decks I hoped to sell. I answered, “Maybe a few hundred.” She said, “Can you live on that?” I answered, “no.” She said, “I think you should think big. Here’s the name of two publishers, send them each a copy.” I did and soon afterward, US Games Systems Inc. picked it up and it is now sold more than 70k copies around the world!
The following are a few mystical and serendipitous events connected to the cards of my deck that have happened since this time.
The Tower
One day, my husband headed out for a long bike ride. I was driving to an appointment and got a call from his phone. A stranger on the other end said, “I’m here with your husband, and he is okay.” I soon found out that he had an accident on his bike and broke his femur and was rushed to the University of Minnesota hospital. I rushed home to get my kids and checked the mail. The first published printing of White Sage Tarot was delivered so I stuck it in my pocket and headed to the hospital. We sat near my husband and I pulled the deck out of my pocket and started shuffling.
The first card that flew out of the deck and landed on the floor was The Tower card. The most appropriate card for a day that has been turned upside down. My son looked at it and said, “That’s the card I picked Mom!” I picked it up and looked out the window and realized that we were on the 4th floor of the U of M hospital facing East. I looked directly out the window and saw the Witchhat Tower (the same tower that was represented on the card) lit up by the sun setting.
The World
Several of the cards came to me in a sort of daydream channeled state. One example of this is The World card. I wanted to paint one that didn’t have a globe. I couldn’t decide what to paint so I laid down on my bed and stared at the ceiling. Soon the image of an acorn showed up in my mind’s eye. I quickly sketched out the image before it faded.
The Sun
I had a dream that I was in a tattoo shop and they were giving away tattoos. They asked me what image I wanted to get. I said, “I’ll get my Sun card (a scarab) on the back of my neck.” The next day I got a DM from a stranger who asked me permission to get a card as a tattoo. I asked about details and they said they wanted The Sun card on the back of their neck!
Some of the cards came to visit me in dreams after they were painted. The Devil card came to me one night in a dream. I was in a friend’s house and the large boa constrictor from my card came over to me and started speaking telepathically. He said, “The more you struggle, the tighter we squeeze.” My first thought was “We – how many devils are there?” I also thought it was good advice from an addiction standpoint to not over-identify with the problem in order to resolve it.
I now do private readings for clients as well as group readings at parties. When I’m not reading tarot I’m working with my intuition on painting of faes in my art studio in Northeast Minneapolis. An example of this work is on the cover of the Feb/March 2026 issue of The Edge Magazine.
